Ayukta virtually dead, long live corruption!

Thirty years after Karnataka established the institution of Lokayukta, the state government is out to make the police wing of this anti-corruption watchdog jobless by reviving the Anti-Corruption Bureau which was once scrapped for failing to perform satisfactorily.

Even as the search for a new Lokayukta is still on, the government has announced its decision to revive the Anti-Corruption Bureau, making the police wing of the Lokayukta institution redundant.

The move is being seen by most as the final nail in the coffin for the institution of the Lokayukta, which has been headless for several months now. Established to fight corruption, it hit an all time low when an extortion racket within its ranks came to light in May 2015. Later, the arrest of then Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao’s son, Ashwin Yerabati, by the SIT came as a bitter blow to the morale of the Lokayukta staff. But worse was to follow. Not only did Justice Rao resign but  Upa Lokayukta, Justice Subhash B. Adi found himself facing an impeachment motion, further hitting the morale of the institution.

While the Lokayukta may have its problems, the delay in appointing its new head and the impeachment of Justice Adi have put the government too in the dock with anti-corruption crusaders accusing it of deliberately trying to curtail its powers.

This is not the first time that the government has faced such criticism. The recent amendment to the Karnataka Lokayukta Bill, which allows for removal of the Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta if need be, was seen as a ploy to defeat any move to investigate corruption within the government.

In 2014 the government found itself accused of diluting the powers of the Lokayukta on the pretext of making it conform with the Central Lokpal Bill, which wanted the Karnataka Lokayukta to be empowered to only fight corruption when it is common knowledge that it cannot take on this role under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The latest move therefore is being seen as the culmination of a long drawn out effort to take away any teeth the Lokayukta may have and leave government officers and ministers free to go about their work without fear of being caught in sting operations or the like which could embroil them in charges of corruption.

Role of anti-corruption bureau

• States like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Goa and others have both a Lokayukta and an Anti-Corruption Bureau. Even Delhi has both agencies
• The state government has set up the ACB, taking shelter under a Supreme Court verdict and recent high court rulings
• The ACB will function under the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) and be headed by an officer of the ADGP rank. It will have a sanctioned strength of 322 policemen
• The Lokayukta has trapped not only government officials, but also MLAs receiving bribes. BJP MLA Y. Sampangi became the first legislator in the state to be convicted on corruption charges after the Lokayukta police caught him accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from a businessman, Hussain Moin Farooq in January 2009
• Former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa was also sent to judicial custody for alleged illegal denotification of land based on investigation of the Lokayukta police in October 2011

Deliberate act by govt to weaken Lokayukta: Justice Santosh Hegde
Always forthright in his views, former Lokayutka Justice N. Santosh Hegde makes no bones about his objection to the revival of the Anti-Corruption Bureau. “I don’t know what made the government think of reviving an old agency, which was scrapped because it did not work well enough. It is a deliberate act by the government to weaken the Lokayukta institution and destroy its police wing,” he charges.

“Also, when the ACB will function directly under a cabinet minister, how can anyone expect it to function  impartially?,” he demands, pointing out that once the ACB comes into force, the policemen in the Lokayukta will be jobless. If the ACB handles all cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, the Lokayukta police cannot conduct raids or lay traps as they normally do. And the ACB, functioning directly under the government, may come under pressure from various quarters at one time or the other,” he warns.

Justice Hegde recalls that prior to 1984, the state had a Karnataka  Vigilance Commission headed by a judge to investigate wrongdoing by the government and an Anti- Corruption Bureau headed by a senior police officer. “But neither performed to the satisfaction of the people of Karnataka and so were merged. This led to the setting up of the Karnataka Lokayukta, which began functioning in 1986,” he notes.

The new Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) will be manned by 322 policemen and be headed by an officer of the rank of Additional Director General of Police.